How much do you allocate to international equity?

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Ralph Furley
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Ralph Furley »

I'm somewhere between 15% and 20% of total portfolio with an 80/20 AA. One seems too high and one seems too low...so it probably doesn't matter.
dru808
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by dru808 »

30% ish, had zero but wanted to insure.

Europacific growth is a pretty good fund despite the expense, my wife hold europacific in her 401k.
Last edited by dru808 on Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Chrono Triggered
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Chrono Triggered »

50%. 25% VSS, 25% VXUS/IXUS.
goldendad
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by goldendad »

About 8% with no plans to increase it. The S&P500 have plenty of international exposure (IMHO). I am 64 yo with 80% in stocks - mostly VTI and SPY ETFs. I am retired with enough pension income to never touch my investments.
keystone
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by keystone »

Between 30 and 35% of my equities are in international. For many years I was at 20%, but I've increased my international allocation over the years.

There is a popular thread advocating for putting all of one's stock allocation in the Vanguard Total World Stock Index and I think the OP made some very compelling arguments. I'm not quite ready to make that leap just yet, but I am headed in that direction. The thread can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=272909
Mario2222
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Mario2222 »

I own VTWAX in my Roth IRA
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grabiner
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by grabiner »

50% of my equity holding (currently 44% of my total portfolio) is international. The reason is that I overweight emerging markets and international small-cap because they should have the least correlation with the rest of my portfolio. (Yes, they add risk as well; my 88%-stock portfolio has the risk of 100% stock, and lost more than the market in March because I overweight value as well.)

I never recommend that anyone match my portfolio. If a portfolio like mine is right for you, then you know enough to ignore that advice.
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nix4me
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by nix4me »

zero %
rockstar
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by rockstar »

Zero.

My international exposures comes from US companies that do business internationally.
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Gort
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Gort »

25% of equities in international (VTIAX).
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by dru808 »

MotoTrojan wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:17 pm 35% all in small-value (25% FNDC, 10% IVAL).
Is there a reason you exclude emerging markets?
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Rlew
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Rlew »

Market cap weighting. I base this off the US/ex-US percentage of VTWAX
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alexp
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by alexp »

Between 10-20%.
invest4
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by invest4 »

~20% VXUS.

In the past I have had higher and with tilting to small caps, etc. I have abandoned all that mess for simplicity and settled on 20% in single ETF based upon Vanguard study / recommendations and other which I currently plan to maintain for the duration.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by MotoTrojan »

dru808 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 10:09 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:17 pm 35% all in small-value (25% FNDC, 10% IVAL).
Is there a reason you exclude emerging markets?
I don’t feel a compelling reason to overweight it relative to ex-US and if I held an independent fund at weight it’s 7% allocation just doesn’t seem worth it. I feel just small-value developed is more efficient (trading/fund expenses), simpler, and plenty diverse.

If there was a single fund that achieved small-value ex-US exposure I may use it but I’m not dying to invest in Russia.

FNDC does hold some exposure in Korea and HK too which some indices consider EM.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by trigger08 »

All right I'll play too: I aim for International to be 35-40% of equities, and within that International category I then tilt 25-30% to small-caps in the hope that on average they will be less correlated with the US.
Bayliss
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Bayliss »

20% is international. 10% is VEA and 10% is VWO.
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Blueberry2009
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Blueberry2009 »

Thanks for the input y'all. I will definetly do additional study and read the suggestion by Nisiprius and others. I had noticed Vanguard target funds have gone up to 40% of equity in international so I studied target funds from other companies. They seem to vary from around 30% to 40% of equity in international. I haven't researched this a lot but I had read an article in my Kiplingers magazine a couple years ago about the fact that international just hasn't done as well as domestic over the past 10 years or so I think it was. I do have concerns about the future of the U.S. though with the debt continuing to rise. Maybe that's what Vanguard's thoughts are as well?? I also realize diversification is not about chasing returns. I only have the Van Eck emerging markets fund and the Europacific growth as international options in my 401k. No international index funds which I am not happy about. Thanks for any other thoughts you may have.
youngpleb
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by youngpleb »

50% of my total AA. About 1/4 of that is specifically in international small-cap, and the rest in total international. I like having a 50/50 split because I don’t miss out on anything. :sharebeer
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Valuethinker »

Blueberry2009 wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:16 pm Thanks for the input y'all. I will definetly do additional study and read the suggestion by Nisiprius and others. I had noticed Vanguard target funds have gone up to 40% of equity in international so I studied target funds from other companies. They seem to vary from around 30% to 40% of equity in international. I haven't researched this a lot but I had read an article in my Kiplingers magazine a couple years ago about the fact that international just hasn't done as well as domestic over the past 10 years or so I think it was. I do have concerns about the future of the U.S. though with the debt continuing to rise. Maybe that's what Vanguard's thoughts are as well?? I also realize diversification is not about chasing returns. I only have the Van Eck emerging markets fund and the Europacific growth as international options in my 401k. No international index funds which I am not happy about. Thanks for any other thoughts you may have.
If those 2 funds have high expense ratios they are not worth pursuing.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by tibbitts »

Valuethinker wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:58 am If those 2 funds have high expense ratios they are not worth pursuing.
Yes, even at best international typically has some costs that domestic doesn't, depending on location (tax considerations in an IRA, etc.) Maybe .3- .4% total? But add to whatever your tax cost is to EuroPacific's .8%+ (in my plan) expense ratio and that's a lot. I might still use it for a small amount if it was my only way to get international exposure, but not necessarily the higher percentage most people suggest.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by abuss368 »

Blueberry2009 wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:16 pm Thanks for the input y'all. I will definetly do additional study and read the suggestion by Nisiprius and others. I had noticed Vanguard target funds have gone up to 40% of equity in international so I studied target funds from other companies. They seem to vary from around 30% to 40% of equity in international. I haven't researched this a lot but I had read an article in my Kiplingers magazine a couple years ago about the fact that international just hasn't done as well as domestic over the past 10 years or so I think it was. I do have concerns about the future of the U.S. though with the debt continuing to rise. Maybe that's what Vanguard's thoughts are as well?? I also realize diversification is not about chasing returns. I only have the Van Eck emerging markets fund and the Europacific growth as international options in my 401k. No international index funds which I am not happy about. Thanks for any other thoughts you may have.
Vanguard and others appear to recognize a 30% - 40% “sweat spot” for international stocks from a diversification and risk/reward standpoint.

Importantly, and too often ignored or swept under the rug is Vanguard’s recommended 30% of bonds to international.
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TikiMan
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by TikiMan »

Also of note, it is my understanding that Vanguard believes you should be at a world market cap weight. So roughly 43% is what Vanguard believes is ideal. This tends to not be brought up and missed on the forum. I follow that recommendation.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by BogleFan84 »

Age 60, 3 years before retirement, 50/50 AA with 8% (16% of Stocks) in International Developed Markets.
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BuyAndHoldOn
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by BuyAndHoldOn »

I aim for Global Market capitalization (which varies over time) - but I am actually overweight non-US, due to overweighting EM (passive index, MSCI EM products). I periodically hold single-country ETFs like TUR for Turkey, and I also hold EM bonds in one of my tax-advantaged accounts (HSA).

To give a % and keep things simple: I am around 50% non-US, which is overweight non-US by a few percentage points (as of today, the US is like 53% of global market cap if referring to MSCI ACWI or similar).

I haven't (yet?) included frontier markets (e.g., Vietnam, Kuwait). I have thought about picking these up (ticker FM) on a serious pullback, but every time there is said-pullback: Other areas get knocked down too, limiting the relative appeal....

I am aware EM, and frontier markets may be better handled through active management, but I know ~more or less what to expect with the EM index and I don't mind the state-owned enterprises for a number of reasons. For my tilt / speculative EM positions: I only buy the EM index /single country ETFs - outside of general non-US fund exposure - when they get *knocked down* disproportionately, and I don't buy more when they have periods of outperformance (like right now).
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by renegade06 »

I’ve boosted mine from 25% up to 35%. It’s closer to the Vanguard recommendation and international is a better value than the U.S. right now. I also wanted to diversify from tech - and there is so much tech within VTI. I’m already at 27% tech in my portfolio. I went on Vanguard and used their comparison tool to compare VTI and VXUS. It was very interesting to see how much less tech is in VXUS than VTI. I feel that it helps further diversify my portfolio beyond just the US/International argument - there is a good difference in sectors between the two funds.
Goldwater85
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Goldwater85 »

I emphatically disagree with Bogle on this issue.

I’m 60% international (split among sub regions that I rebalance). I’d be more like 40% if retired.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Goldwater85 »

BuyAndHoldOn wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 6:46 pm I periodically hold single-country ETFs like TUR for Turkey, and I also hold EM bonds in one of my tax-advantaged accounts (HSA).
Don’t get sucked into the value trap that is Turkey. Russia or Poland or Singapore maybe. Even Austria.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by N.Y.Cab »

I have about 15% of equity in Total International. Every dog has its day and 2021 might be the year of international outperformance.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Metsfan91 »

About 50% international according to Morningstar Instant X-ray. Mostly in Vanguard Total International Stock Index.
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visualguy
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by visualguy »

rockstar wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:46 pm Zero.

My international exposures comes from US companies that do business internationally.
+1

Also, 0%. There are enough US-listed companies with a lot of international business. I don't see the need to index ex-US. Particularly since it has so many issues: currency risk, foreign taxes, etc., and it hasn't performed well in the long run. There may be some slice-and-dice strategies that make sense for investing in foreign stock markets, but those complicate things, and not sure I would be moving the needle enough to justify that.

Regardless, it's important to realize that many folks who say they invest in international don't actually invest in the ex-US index, and use all kinds of other approaches instead. I think this can be confusing - I know I used to assume that what was meant was indexing ex-US, but then realized that approaches to "international" investment vary a lot here.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Stef »

rockstar wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:46 pm Zero.

My international exposures comes from US companies that do business internationally.
This argument never made sense in the first place.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by HMSVictory »

I am at 20% of equities in international. However; I do not re-balance it and my allocation has fallen due to performance.

Mr. Bogle said 0%. Vanguard is suggesting 30-50% (based off of valuation and expectations moving forward which are well grounded). I split the difference. I do like that international yields more than US. VXUS is at 2.13% yield vs. VTI at 1.42%.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Anon9001 »

I allocate about 28-35% because my local country differentiates between local and foreign stocks for taxation.
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BuyAndHoldOn
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by BuyAndHoldOn »

Goldwater85 wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 7:15 pm
BuyAndHoldOn wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 6:46 pm I periodically hold single-country ETFs like TUR for Turkey, and I also hold EM bonds in one of my tax-advantaged accounts (HSA).
Don’t get sucked into the value trap that is Turkey. Russia or Poland or Singapore maybe. Even Austria.
You aren't wrong. But I might disagree with you anyway . Russia I have kept an eye out for, but I have restrictions on what I can buy (FINRA, I work at a large financial institution) and often the ERUS ETF is restricted.

I have traded in and out of the TUR position, and I always buy it low (low, low). I made a ~25% gain the first time around (2018), and would have made more had I held longer; I also did well with Brazilian small caps (EWZS). Neither were large positions (so why did I even bother?).

Right now: My TUR cost basis is around $20; it trades near $30. I may sell once I can get long-term capital gains [for the whole position]....it may tank again before that happens, it is the risk :happy :mrgreen: :oops: :annoyed

I got the idea from Research Affiliates: they haven't helped investors make money for a while, but I do find their methodology intriguing.

I generally just buy Global equities, including the US (Ticker VT, for example). I plan to do less and less speculative purchasing as time goes on, and let my speculative picks "run" (either hold them, or sell them off - but probably not buying more, at least not very often / if ever).
Last edited by BuyAndHoldOn on Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by bonglehead »

My allocation is 40/40/20 (US/Intl/Bonds) since I began seriously investing and I feel happy and confident with 50% of my stocks holdings in International.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Dude2 »

TikiMan wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2020 12:33 pm Also of note, it is my understanding that Vanguard believes you should be at a world market cap weight. So roughly 43% is what Vanguard believes is ideal. This tends to not be brought up and missed on the forum. I follow that recommendation.
I don't think they are quite that clear about it.
Vanguard wrote: In determining how much to allocate between domestic and international equities, a helpful starting point for investors is global
market-capitalization weight. In practice, many investors will consider an allocation below this starting point based on their sensitivity to a number of considerations, including volatility reduction, implementation costs, taxes, regulation, and their own preferences.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by exigent »

We’re 60/40 between stock and bonds. Our equity allocation is 2/3 domestic, 1/3 intl. So 40/20/40 domestic vs. intl vs. bonds. We are also roughy 2/3 nominal and 1/3 inflation-indexed (TIPS and I-bonds) on the fixed income side.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Goldwater85 »

BuyAndHoldOn wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:29 am
I got the idea from Research Affiliates: they haven't helped investors make money for a while, but I do find their methodology intriguing.
I’ve bought into a modified Meb Faber method of buying countries with low CAPEs. I’d suggest it, but most country ETFs have too few underliers to be considered broad based ETFs.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by ruralavalon »

We currently about 10% of stocks in international stocks. I haven't rebalance recently. We use Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX).
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by abuss368 »

I used to have 40% of stock and 30% bond.

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7th_Diagram
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by 7th_Diagram »

My asset allocation is:

International - 40%
US Large Caps - 40%
US Small Caps - 20%
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by trueblueky »

60/40 stock/bond
1/3 of stock is international
So 40/20/40 US stock/international stock/bond

No international bond. I don't see the point.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Equitius »

.....
Last edited by Equitius on Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hookem_1
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Hookem_1 »

I’m just over 20% for international
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by carminered2019 »

I bumped it up from 20% to 25%.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Wanderingwheelz »

Since the lows of the pandemic I bumped up from 17% to 25%. My rationale at the time was if I was going to buy when the world was coming to an end, I at least wanted to be as diversified as possible. In case a country or two still had actual people.

Since that time US and Int’l have performed just about equally. We’ll see what happens from here.
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Kookaburra »

I hold International at a target of 22.5% of equities. My re-balancing bands are 20% low and 25% high. I settled on this as my “regret minimization” range: slightly higher than Taylor’s 20% recommendation, but below global market cap weight. I’m equally compelled by argument on both sides, so this is where I landed.
Last edited by Kookaburra on Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Modest Man
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by Modest Man »

Decided about five years ago to go with 30% of stocks to Vanguard Total International. I thought Mr. Bogle said up to 20% and Vanguard was at 40%.
I split the difference. I'm hoping this is ok, I feel possibly more diversified. My IPS says do not deviate. :sharebeer
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Re: How much do you allocate to international equity?

Post by JSPECO9 »

I am at 20%. Half the crowd says you should not own international because America will always be better and half the revenues already come from international. Half the crowd says you should own it at market weight (hovers around 40%) because no one knows nothing. At 20%, you will either be half right or half wrong (yes that's meant as an oxymoron).
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